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Harold Washington College was dedicated to Mayor Washington's memory in a ceremony on April 19, 1988, five months after his passing.[1] Elements of the City-Wide College were joined to the Harold Washington College when the former was closed in 1993. The Dawson Technical Institute was under the auspices of HWC from 1993 to 1995, at which point it became part of Kennedy-King College, another of the City Colleges of Chicago.[2]

Harold Washington College is a learning-centered, urban institution of higher education offering accessible and affordable opportunities for academic advancement, career development and personal enrichment. The College is committed to upholding high institutional and academic standards and to understanding and improving student learning.[3]

HWC as a community college offers two year "Associates" degrees in a wide variety of majors and provides transfer assistance to local four-year upper division colleges and universities. In 2005, it finished a series of substantial renovations with the help of a City bond initiative to be approved by the voters that was the first of its kind in support of a City Colleges institution.

Harold Washington College was the only site in the City of Chicago for taxicab driver certification but now functions as the center of business, entrepreneurship and professional services for all of the City Colleges of Chicago.[4] Harold Washington College is also the Chicago site for the investment/financial firm Goldman Sachs "10,000 Small Businesses" program, which provides Chicago area small business owners with greater access to business education, financial capital and business support services.

In 2004, Harold Washington College established a 'Great Books" program.[5] The school also has an agreement with private institution, Shimer College, another "Great Books" curriculum college in Chicago, to allow Harold Washington students to take classes at Shimer while paying City Colleges level of tuition.[6]

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Harold Washington College is also approved by the Illinois Community College Board, the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois State Board of Education. In 2013, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognized Harold Washington College's assessments of student learning outcomes, which have influenced course sequencing, pre-requisites, teaching strategies, faculty development and institutional policies, with the 2013 CHEA Award for Outstanding Institutional Practice in Student Learning Outcomes.[7]